The world of international management is no longer limited to jet-setting corporate trouble-shooters or seasoned expatriate managers. Virtually all business conducted today is global business. The need to understand the effect of culture on the practice of management has never been greater. Essentials of International Management examines cross-cultural management issues from a psychological or behavioral perspective. It focuses on the interactions of people from different cultures in organizational settings and helps the reader gain an understanding of the effect of culture that can be applied to a wide variety of cross-cultural interactions in various organizational contexts.

Table of Contents

Section I: Management and Culture 1 Introduction: The Challenging Role of the International Manager Globalization Environment of International Management What International Managers Do 2 Describing Culture: What it is and Where it Comes From Features of Culture Why Cultures Differ and Persist Debates Surrounding the Culture Construct Culture and Social Groups 3 Comparing Cultures: Systematically Describing Cultural Differences Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck Framework Hofstede's Study Schwartz Value Survey Tropenaars' Dimensions Individualism-Collectivism Use of the Frameworks 4 How Culture Works: Fundamentals of Cross-Cultural Interaction Social Cognition Cultural Norms and Scripts Selective Perception Stereotypic Expectations Differential Attributions Cross-Cultural Interaction Model Motivation Across Cultures Section II: Roles of the International Manager 5 The Manager as Decision Maker: Cross-Cultural Dimensions of Decision Making Rational Decision Making Cultural Differences in the Optimization Model Limits to Rationality Heuristics Motivational Biases in Decision Making Selection and Reward Allocation Decisions Ethical Dilemmas in Decision Making Moral Philosophies Cognitive Moral Development 6 The Manager as Negotiator: Communicating and Negotiating Across Cultures Cross-Cultural Communications Process Language Communication Styles Other Language Considerations Language Pragmatics Nonverbal Communication Negotiating Across Cultures Implications 7 The Manager as Leader: The Leadership Role Across Cultures Leadership Western Leadership Theory Non-Western Theories of Leadership Integrated Cross-Cultural Model of Leadership Implications for the Practice of Leadership Section III: International Management Challenges 8 The Challenge of Multi-Cultural Work Groups and Teams Work Groups Work Group Effectiveness Culture's Influence on Work Groups Culture's Effect in Different Group Structures and Tasks Organizational Conditions and Culturally Diverse Work Groups Geographically Distributed Work Groups Managing Multi-Cultural Work Groups 9 The Challenge of Designing International Organizations Organizations Explaining Organizational Structure Culture and Organizational Structure Organizing in Multinational Corporations Designing Jobs in International Organizations 10 The Challenge of International Assignments The Role of Expatriates Selection of Managers for Overseas Assignments Decision to Accept an Overseas Assignment Definitions of Success Factors Affecting Expatriate Success Individual Factors Job and Organizational Factors Environmental factors Repatriation Expatriate Careers International Assignments: A Double Edged Sword Section IV: International Management Reserach 11 The Challenge of Learning More: Evaluating Cross-Cultural Management Studies Source of Limitations in Present Management Studies Types of International Management Research Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural Research Summary of Methods Issues Critiques of International and Cross-Cultural Research

Author Biography

David C Thomas (Ph.D, University of South Carolina) is Professor of International Management at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is the author of seven books including Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts, (Sage) and Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business (Berrett-Koehler), as well as numerous journal articles on cross-cultural interactions in organizational settings. He is currently the Associate Editor of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Management and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of World Business, Journal of Organizational Behavior and the Journal of Management.